VZCZCXYZ0016
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJL #0191/01 0881209
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291209Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6521
INFO RULSDMK/DOT WASHDC
RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHDC
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0143
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 7161

UNCLAS BANJUL 000191 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W, AF/EPS, EB/TRA/OTP 
FAA FOR AIA 
TRANSPORTATION FOR OST 
DAKAR/ACCRA FOR FAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR KTIA OPIC PINR ETRD EINV GA
SUBJECT: GAMBIAN CIVAIR: AIRLINE NEGOTIATIONS AND A NEW DIRECTOR 
AT GCAA 
 
REF: BANJUL 68 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. The Gambian government continues its efforts to 
attract a commercial air carrier that will provide direct flights 
to the United States.  Negotiations with North American Airlines 
(NAA), acquired by World Air Holdings in 2005, have progressed 
quickly and there is a possibility for a Banjul-Baltimore flight 
to be in place by June.  It is not clear yet what impact the 
appointment of a new Director General (DG) at the Gambian Civil 
Aviation Authority (GCAA) will have on the negotiations, but we 
expect GCAA to continue to seek to establish direct service 
between Banjul and the U.S.  END SUMMARY. 
 
NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINE'S BID FOR BANJUL-BWI SERVICE 
 
¶2.  (SBU) A team from NAA and World Air visited the Gambia in 
early March to investigate the possibility of adding a Banjul- 
Baltimore flight to its current service in West Africa.  The 
team, along with then-GCAA Acting DG Paul Bass met with Emboffs 
to discuss their plan.  According to World Air Holdings Chief 
Marketing Officer Robert Binns, NAA proposes to add one Accra- 
Banjul-Baltimore passenger flight per week as early as June. 
They are currently working on the cost agreement with GCAA for 
such a service and, although optimistic about the prospects, 
Binns did voice his concern that the issue of ground and 
passenger handling remained unresolved.  Currently the state- 
owned Gambia International Airlines (GIA) has a monopoly on all 
handling operations at the Banjul Airport.  In a March 22 email 
exchange with econoff, Binns expressed confidence that Bass was 
close to getting a "reasonable solution" from GIA. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mr. Bass acknowledged the handling agent issue and 
stated that GCAA will be working with GIA and the government so 
that it will not be an obstacle to attracting airlines to Banjul. 
His stated opinion was that the new management team at GIA, 
including the new Managing Director Lamin Sanyang, will make the 
company easier to work with than in the past.  He further stated 
that the government has established an Air Access Task Force, 
chaired by Bass, to bring together all stakeholders with an eye 
to increasing airport traffic.  The World Air and NAA executives 
favorably noted this development and expressed their pleasure 
with the level of support they have received from the government 
thus far. 
 
TSA'S PRELIMINARY SECURITY ASSESSMENT 
 
SIPDIS 
 
¶4. (SBU) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Attache 
John Halinski visited Banjul on March 24 to conduct a preliminary 
security assessment in advance of the full security review 
scheduled for May.  He reported to econoff that the preliminary 
assessment did not uncover any major security problems at the 
airport that would prevent NAA from receiving approval to fly 
from Banjul to Baltimore. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bass traveled to Canada and Washington DC last week for 
GCAA, and reported to econoff that he would be meeting with NAA 
representatives while in Washington.  In an email exchange on 23 
March, Bass stated that negotiations were on track and that he 
felt close to resolving the issues with GIA. 
 
NEW GCAA DIRECTOR GENERAL APPOINTED 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to the GCAA Deputy DG, the GCAA's Director of 
Commerce, Fansu Bojang, was appointed the new DG of GCAA on March 
¶24.  Paul Bass, who had been acting GCAA DG since November 2005, 
will return to his former position as Director of Flight Safety 
Standards. 
 
SAA BANJUL-U.S. SERVICE - A DISTANT PROSPECT 
 
¶7. (SBU) In February, South African Airways (SAA) took out a full 
page advertisement in local newspapers announcing that direct 
flights from Banjul to JFK were "coming soon".  When asked about 
the ads, then Acting GCAA DG Bass replied that the SAA public 
relations office was getting ahead of itself.  He said that the 
airline has not yet applied for a license to operate out of 
Banjul and there are no firm plans for SAA to begin flights.  At 
that point, Binns speculated that the SAA move could be a 
reflection of increased competition they may be facing for their 
transatlantic flights out of Dakar. 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT:  The potential NAA deal is a major opportunity 
for The Gambia.  There have been no direct flights from The 
Gambia to the United States since 2004, a factor holding 
development back in all areas of trade and tourism.  It remains 
to be seen how potential conflicts with GIA's de facto ground 
handling monopoly will be resolved.  GIA suspended flights in 
2005 and at this point the handling operation and ticketing are 
its only sources of revenue.  There have been a number of 
airlines considering transatlantic flights out of Banjul over the 
past year, but none have yet materialized 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: It is too early to know what changes 
the new DG may implement at GCAA, but we do not expect any major 
shift in policy, i.e., we expect the push to establish air 
service between Banjul and the U.S. to continue.  It is possible, 
however, that the new DG may not be as forward-leaning as Bass 
was with regard to ending GIA's monopoly on handling services at 
Banjul airport.  END COMMENT. 
 
STAFFORD